The Outsiders – 36 Years Later
by SakinaoftheAlleys
Summary: It's been 36 years since the events of The Outsiders. Ponyboy finds something in his attic that brings back memories of his past.


***I know I haven't posted in a while, but I came across this story I wrote back when I was 13. It was part of a school project after my class finished reading The Outsiders. I'm honestly shocked at how good it is, especially considering that I was THIRTEEN when I wrote this. I seriously had potential back then lol, but I'm finally getting back into writing now. It just took 9 years...

I'm working on something really exciting. It should be up in about a week or so. If any of you are fans of The Pureblood Pretense (if you have no idea what I'm talking about and you're a Tamora Pierce and Harry Potter fan, then go check it out!) you're going to squeal. It's fanfic of a fanfic – honestly the best kind of thing to write – and I swear to god if some of you don't die, I'll be disappointed. It's called Just Dinner, so yeah...It's almost done. I'm just fixing a few things :)

/

The rain fell in sheets against the windows of Ponyboy's house. He could hear the honks of the cars as they splashed by, celebrating the long-awaited rain.

Inside, Ponyboy stood staring out the rain-washed window, fingering a package in his hands. He had found it in the attic of his old house. The one he'd shared with Darry and Sodapop all those years. The package was dusty and the paper old and yellow. It smelled of mustiness and hair oil.

Ponyboy let out a low sigh and made his way to his bed. He sank down into its softness and closed his eyes. After all those years, he had found it. The package he had been hunting for. Slowly, with trembling hands, Ponyboy undid the knot that bound the yellow paper. He unfolded the paper gently, not wanting to rip it and stared at the first page for a long time.

A large 'A' was scrawled across the top of the page in red ink. The writing on the page was faded, but readable. The paper seemed to crumble in his hands as he turned it over and started flipping through the thick pages, carefully. Darry must have put it up in that attic, he thought, as he scanned through the pages.

Darry was an old man now. In his late fifties. He had finally gotten the chance to go to college after their parent's will was found. He looked up at the small photo that sat in its frame on his dresser. It showed Darry, flexing his muscles at the camera. Behind him was a colossal building made of red bricks.

Ponyboy turned the next page gingerly and scanned through it quickly. He would have turned to the next page if two words hadn't caught him. Mickey Mouse. This was when he had been telling Cherry Valance about his brother Sodapop.

Soda was also an old man like Darry. He was still movie star handsome like he had been 36 years ago. It was amazing how he had hardly changed these past few years. Sodapop was still that happy-go-lucky little boy, especially when he was reunited with Mickey Mouse.

Ponyboy remembered it with much detail. Sodapop had hunted for Mickey Mouse after their parent's will had been found, hoping to buy him off. But when he finally set his eyes on Mickey Mouse, he found out two things. Mickey Mouse was dying. He had gotten hurt badly on one of the rodeo events. And, Mickey Mouse had a colt.

Looking at another picture in a photo frame, Ponyboy saw Sodapop, 20 at the time, with his arm around a small black colt. Soda had been with Mickey Mouse when Mickey Mouse died, and then had bought his colt. He had named him Goofy after he found out that the colt could escape the little shed they had in the backyard.

Ponyboy couldn't help but smile as the memory of that moment washed over him. Life had changed so drastically for the Curtis' boys when their parent's will was found. Everything had changed. Darry went to college. Sodapop bought Goofy. They were still Greasers, but in a different way. After Johnny had died and then Dally had killed himself, everyone realized that winning the rumble had made no difference. They weren't any richer, or any better. They were all individuals. No one was better than the other. No one had the right to jump someone just because they were different.

Still, Ponyboy thought, he never really understood how everything just changed like that. Even Two-Bit, who loved to fight, seemed to have lost it in him.

Life had continued on. Two-bit had married Marcia and they had 3 beautiful daughters. Cherry had ended up marrying Randy, who had changed quite a bit and didn't consider himself a Soc anymore.

Ponyboy knew that the death of someone you loved or knew really well, like a best friend, wasn't something easy to forget. He would never forget Johnny. Never. And Dally had been a good friend to Johnny.

Ponyboy brushed the tears away from his face. Everything he had written down on the papers he now held in his hands, were turning into pictures and scenes right before his eyes: Bob's body lying sprawled on the ground by the water fountain, blood pouring out of his chest; the flames enveloping around him and Johnny as they saved the kids; the roar of the rumble; and Johnny, lying on the hospital bed, his face so pale, as he uttered his last words.

Ponyboy broke down. It had been years since he'd cried. Years since he'd remembered all of this. He let the tears come and fall onto the papers that lay abandoned on his lap. Ponyboy didn't know how long he sat there and cried. But when he finally stopped, he took a deep breath. Today was the day to tell them.

Clearing his throat, he called out to his twin sons. "Johnny. Dally."

Ponyboy waited. He was in no hurry. Today was the day he'd tell them his story. The story that changed his life.

"Coming dad!" called out Dally's familiar voice.

Ponyboy looked up as two, dark-headed boys skidded into the room. He smiled sadly at them and motioned for them to sit down, one on either side of him.

He took a deep breath and when he opened his eyes, they rested on an old photo frame on his night table. Two vulnerable eyes stared right back at him.

"What is it, dad?" asked Johnny.

Ponyboy turned to him and smiled. "I have a story to tell you."

He let out a deep breath. In his mind, he thought of one thing: what Johnny had told him in the hospital 36 years ago.

"Stay gold, Ponyboy…Stay gold."

Johnny's voice echoed in his head. Life was a blink of an eye. Every minute was precious. Every minute counted. Ponyboy turned to the first page of his story. He was going to start now.


End file.
